Two graduates of NAC Young Artists Programme, Jessica Linnebach and Jethro Marks, win positions with NAC Orchestra along with OSM principal bassoon Stéphane Lévesque, and Ottawa cellist Timothy McCoy
July 14, 2003 -
Ottawa, Canada -- Three new musicians have won positions with the National Arts Centre Orchestra beginning with the 2003-2004 season and a fourth has become a full-time member. Two of these are graduates of the NAC's prestigious Young Artists Programme which has just concluded its fifth season: Vancouver-born violist Jethro Marks, who has been named to the new position of associate principal viola, and Edmonton violinist Jessica Linnebach, who joins the NAC Orchestra violin section for the 03-04 season. Stéphane Lévesque, principal bassoon of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, will become the NAC Orchestra's new principal bassoon. In addition, Ottawa cellist Timothy McCoy, who has played for several years in the National Arts Centre Orchestra cello section becomes a full-time member of the Orchestra.
Pinchas Zukerman, who began plans for the NAC Young Artists Programme as soon as he was appointed Music Director of the National Arts Centre Orchestra in 1998, said: "I'm so proud of these two wonderfully talented young Canadians. Both participated in the first Young Artists Programme and their success demonstrates the impact of the work we do with young performers. We must keep working with the next generation of musicians to help them develop to their full potential. I look forward to the coming season with these two young graduates and with our wonderful new principal bassoon from Montreal, as well as our old friend Tim McCoy."
Twenty-year-old Edmonton-born Jessica Linnebach joined the NAC Young Artists Programme at age 16 in 1999, the inaugural year of the programme. She returned to the Young Artists Programme as mentor in 2000, 2001 and 2002. When she was 17, Pinchas Zukerman invited her to join the NAC Orchestra as guest soloist on its Tour 2000 to the Middle East and Europe where she received excellent reviews for her performances of the Bach Violin Concerto No. 1 and, paired with Pinchas Zukerman, Bach's Concerto for Two Violins. Accepted to the world-renowned Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia at the age of ten, Jessica remains one of the youngest-ever Bachelor of Music graduates in the 75-year history of the school. She received her Master degree from the Manhattan School of Music at age 19. Since her debut at the age of seven, Jessica has appeared with leading orchestras across North America. An avid chamber musician, she has collaborated with some of the most illustrious artists and chamber groups of our day.
Jessica Linnebach said: "It's a dream come true for me. The NAC musicians are the ultimate professionals. It's a thrill to play with them and they have welcomed me into the Orchestra."
Twenty-eight-year-old Vancouver-born Jethro Marks was also an inaugural member of the NAC Young Artists Programme in 1999 returning as mentor in 2000 and 2001. In 1998, he was accepted into the Zukerman Program at the Manhattan School of Music as the only violist and won first prize in the MSM Concerto Competition. Jethro Marks has performed as soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Europe and Canada. He has performed at numerous music festivals, including Ravinia, Santa Fe, New York String Seminar, The Zukerman Summer Festival, and Mostly Mozart, as well as the Jupiter and Lyric Chamber Music Societies in New York. He has been heard on the stages of Carnegie Hall and Alice Tully Hall, performing with many American and European artists.
Born in Montreal, Stéphane Lévesque (age 31) has been principal bassoon of the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal since September 1998. Before returning to Montreal, he was principal bassoon of the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra during the 1997-98 season, and co-principal bassoon of the New World Symphony in Miami from 1995 to 1997. Mr. Lévesque can be heard on recordings on the EMI, Decca, RCA Victor, Argo and Bell/SRC labels. He also appears on the latest CD of Les Vents de Montréal, on the CBC label. Mr. Lévesque has appeared as soloist with the Montreal, New World and Quebec City Symphony Orchestras, the Violons du Roy chamber orchestra in Quebec City, and the Banff Festival String Orchestra. He has also performed many solo and chamber recitals in Canada, the USA, and abroad, often in series recorded for broadcast by the CBC and NPR. Member of the Faculty of Music at McGill University and the Université de Montréal since September 1998, he has given masterclasses at the Manhattan School of Music, at the Banff Centre for the Arts, and at the Scotia Festival of Music in Halifax. Mr. Lévesque holds two Premier Prix, in bassoon and chamber music, from the Montréal Conservatory of Music, and received his Master's degree from Yale University.
Timothy McCoy (age 38), grew up in Ottawa where his first teacher was NACO assistant principal cello Mario Heller, followed by NACO cellist Rosalind Sartori. A graduate of Indiana University, he studied cello with Gary Hoffman and Janos Starker, and chamber repertoire with Menahem Pressler, James Buswell, and George Janzer. He has also studied and performed at the Banff Centre, National Music Camp (Interlochen, MI), the Brott Summer Festival, Festival of the Sound, and has held titled chairs with the National Youth Orchestra of Canada, the National Repertory Orchestra (Colorado), and the National Orchestral Institute (Maryland). Mr. McCoy spent his early professional years in Toronto as an active freelance cellist. As a musician on the Quebec scene, his activities have included touring with les Violons du Roy and a five-season tenure with the Orchestre symphonique de Québec. Mr. McCoy has been a member of Ottawa's Thirteen Strings and has performed on the Music For A Sunday Afternoon series at the National Gallery.
